The objective of this program is to provide high quality training at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels to prepare a select group of individuals for careers as independent investigators in microbial pathogenesis. The program is based in the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Emory University. It includes faculty members with primary appointments in four (4) Departments of the Emory University School of Medicine and Emory University College of Arts and Sciences and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The predoctoral program is research oriented with the major course requirements of an introductory core including biochemistry, prokaryotic genetics, virology and immunology. Research opportunities are provided in twenty-six (26) laboratories with active research programs in a range of important topics in microbial pathogenesis. Predoctoral trainees completing this program are well prepared to obtain postdoctoral training in excellent laboratories and to begin their careers as independent investigators, as is demonstrated by the success of our past trainees. Postdoctoral trainees will be well prepared to continue their careers as independent investigators. A short term training program will introduce medical students and undergraduates to research. We anticipate that the availability of this training of undergraduates will enable us to recruit interested minority candidates to our graduate research program. The unique aspects of our program include the availability of training in biodefense and in tuberculosis pathogenesis and the opportunities to work with faculty at the CDC and in basic science departments, the Department of Pathology and the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Emory University, either separately or in joint collaborative projects.